1) Sometimes things don’t go according to plan. I brought my coffee and notebook out to the back porch, expecting to write al fresco on this cool gray morning in a space made private with the bamboo blinds I got last year. Wiping off the little desk I thought little of noticing a couple microscopically tiny pale bugs. Imagine my horror when I glanced to my left and discovered the bamboo blind alive with hundreds and hundreds of them!
1a) AIGH! followed swifty by EECCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHH!
2) The only possible reaction was to roll up the blinds, retreat inside immediately, strip, and shower. And then bring my coffee and notebook into the study.
3) An internet search reveals how to clean mold off a bamboo blind, which is helpful, but doesn’t mention bugs. I am hoping these are just mealy bugs or bamboo mites or just plain old ants and not actual termites (God help me). They are definitely not bamboo beetles at least.
3a) The nice pest control man is already scheduled July 9 for the quarterly visit, and the remedies suggested (for mold) are household things like baking soda and white vinegar, but still . . . I think I’m gonna have to toss those blinds out.